At a Council Meeting on 26th of February, 2013, the Niagara Falls Council rejected the advice of the the Niagara Falls Municipal Heritage Committee (MHC) in favour of advice from the local City Planners to re-zone the Culturally important Battle of Lundy's Lane Battlefield (known to the U.S. as the Battle of Bridgewater), supporting a development of an apartmentment building and worse still a car park.

The MHC has sent a letter of objection to the Council the contents of which are:

"As members of the Niagara Falls Municipal Heritage Committee, as well as citizens and taxpayers of Niagara Falls, we feel compelled to voice our concerns over Council's recent decision regarding the severing and re-zoning of the Lundys Lane Battlefield property.

We are all acutely aware of the pressures the City is under to make financially sound decisions.

Sometimes in life seemingly logical short term choices may not be the best in the long term. This we feel was one of those times. As a whole the Municipal Heritage Committee has a very difficult time accepting the Councils decision, to abandon the Citys own Master Plan for the battleground and, to permanently discard arguably one of the key pieces of real estate of the battlefield.

The Committee feels our initial recommendation to simply extend time for proper research into alternate available Government and private funding (other than the 1812 funding) was ignored as was our research and recommendations regarding proper protection of this already designated National Historic Site.

This is not an issue of balanced budgets or good land use planning or "win-win situations". This is a once in two hundred year opportunity to assemble and protect one of our most important Cultural Heritage Landscapes, as per the Ontario Heritage Act, and continue toward completion of your own Battlefield Master Plan, not just for the anniversary of the Battle, but for all time.

We feel it is our duty as stewards of Niagaras history to speak up and defend it. The removal of this parcel of land makes the possibility of creating a heritage park less viable and diminishes the historical value, as well as the valuable tourism potential, of this designated site.

The preservation of the entire parcel of land with no severance provides the potential for a very important tourist attraction for the City of Niagara Falls, as well as offering a unique Tourism Marketing advantage for the local BIAs as well as the Museum. This long term benefit was obviously recognised by some members of Council, but sadly not all.

The written history and testimonials of those who came forward to address Council as well as the Citys own experts have placed this site as one of the most important, if not unique, battlegrounds of the war of 1812-14. Its position in Niagara, Ontario, Canadian and North American history should be revered and protected.

The members of the Municipal Heritage Committee feel City Council was, on this matter, badly advised by the City with respect to some of the information it was provided. The fact that the recommendation, from City to Council, to designate the property only after a Park was established reinforces these misgivings that the concepts of powers and permissions, available to Council within the Ontario Heritage Act, appear not to be properly understood by Council before they make their decisions.

Once again, the Committee as a whole is very disappointed in your decision."

Does the fact that the City of Niagara Falls, as the owners of the property in question and being responsible for the protection of this Cultural Heritage Property, in choosing to ignore this set a precedent that could jeopardise many other municipally owned heritage properties?

Kim Lundberg

Hello James, Is there a petition circulating? Kim Lundberg, Upper Canada Woodland Allies ... [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I don't know. I just cut and pasted the message out of the email newsletter I received, and posted it verbatim.

Does anybody who lives in the Niagara Falls area know if there's a petition?

Jim Yaworsky

Soo

That is indeed sad news. May I suggest a concerted attack, such as the one mounted several years ago to prevent the closure of Fanshawe. But we need a leader.

Message 4 of 5
, Mar 27 6:50 AM

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That is indeed sad news.
May I suggest a concerted attack, such as the one mounted several years ago to prevent the closure of Fanshawe.
But we need a leader.

Sue Too

--- In WarOf1812@yahoogroups.com, "James Yaworsky" <yawors1@...> wrote:
>
> From today's issue #209 of the "Built Heritage News" e-newsletter:
>
> Battle of Lundy's Lane Battlefield - Rezoning
> Niagara Falls Municipal Heritage Committee
>
> At a Council Meeting on 26th of February, 2013, the Niagara Falls Council rejected the advice of the the Niagara Falls Municipal Heritage Committee (MHC) in favour of advice from the local City Planners to re-zone the Culturally important Battle of Lundy's Lane Battlefield (known to the U.S. as the Battle of Bridgewater), supporting a development of an apartmentment building and worse still a car park.
>

Jim

A suggestion. Contact Janice Wing at janice_wing(at)cogeco.ca and visit www.thebattleoflundyslane.ca Janice is a Niagara Falls (Ontario) city councillor and

Message 5 of 5
, Mar 27 8:47 AM

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A suggestion.
Contact Janice Wing at janice_wing(at)cogeco.ca
and visit www.thebattleoflundyslane.ca

Janice is a Niagara Falls (Ontario) city councillor and along with her significant other, Bill Colclough, they have been leading the charge.

--- In WarOf1812@yahoogroups.com, "Soo" <saultcitysoo@...> wrote:
>
> That is indeed sad news.
> May I suggest a concerted attack, such as the one mounted several years ago to prevent the closure of Fanshawe.
> But we need a leader.
>
> Sue Too
>
> --- In WarOf1812@yahoogroups.com, "James Yaworsky" <yawors1@> wrote:
> >
> > From today's issue #209 of the "Built Heritage News" e-newsletter:
> >
> > Battle of Lundy's Lane Battlefield - Rezoning
> > Niagara Falls Municipal Heritage Committee
> >
> > At a Council Meeting on 26th of February, 2013, the Niagara Falls Council rejected the advice of the the Niagara Falls Municipal Heritage Committee (MHC) in favour of advice from the local City Planners to re-zone the Culturally important Battle of Lundy's Lane Battlefield (known to the U.S. as the Battle of Bridgewater), supporting a development of an apartmentment building and worse still a car park.
> >
>

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